Fortuna

Fortuna

This is a quick tutorial, but if you spend a little time working it by hand, you’ll have a chance to engage more deeply with what this point represents.

What is the Part of Fortune?

The Part of Fortune (not to be confused with asteroid 19 Fortuna) is a point in the chart that indicates a certain kind of well being. Think abundance, richness, happiness and joy. Knowing where this point is in your natal chart can be a key to tapping into your own personal brand of fulfillment. The symbol for the Part of Fortune is the circle with an X (astro.com uses a cross though that is traditionally the symbol for Earth).

A little history: The Arabic parts or lots are points in the chart combining planets and angles. They aren’t really all Arabic, but were compiled in 1029 AD by an Arab, so they copped the tag. Some definitely predate Islamic astrology.

We’re going to focus on the Part of Fortune in this hack, but know there are many Arabic parts from the Part of Action to the Part of Health to the Part of Marriage, Part of Disgrace . . . (oh boy). Choose wisely which of these you focus on as energy follows thought . . .

Important Note: The POF is always the same distance from the Ascendant as the Moon is from the sun. In other words, the POF is symbolic of the Sun/Moon phase. So if you have a New Moon the POF will be in the first, full moon, POF in 7th, first or third quarter, 10th or 4th.

Also note, the point 180 opposite the POF is called the Part of Spirit. You might want to play with that too.

Finding the Part of Fortune

Calculation Via Computer: This is easily done at Astro.com by including it in extended chart selection.

click “My Astro”

click the natal chart you want to view

scroll down to “Extended Chart Selection”

scroll down on the left hand side to “Additional Objects”

choose Part of Fortune

create chart

If you want to try it, calculating by hand is a way to connect to the meaning of the POF more literally. Follow this tutorial on Youtube.

Homework

Find your Part of Fortune and note what modality, element and house it is in. What planet “rules” the sign your POF is in?
How do you nurture this part of you? Activities of the house? Feeding it by element? Modality? House activity?

Before we start discussing the Part of Fortune, comparing different placements, feel free to watch this short tutorial on the Day/Night Part of Fortune. Those with a nighttime birth will be particularly interested.

As an example of how the POF might function in a chart, look at this natal horoscope above. Before I reveal who it is, list a few things that you imagine would resonate for them. What might really light this person up, or bring them success, abundance, health and joy? We aren’t trying to guess who it is, but, using what we know about the Part of Fortune, what do you think happiness looks like to them?

Example Chart

The chart above belongs to Charles Dickens ...

Not just an amazing storyteller (POF in 3rd), his critical social commentary slammed the class system in Victorian society. He shocked readers (POF conjunct Uranus) out of complacency, revealing the ugly, horrific truths of poverty and injustice. His works are deeply emotional, dark and fearless in the exploration of death, grief and transformation (POF in Scorpio).

He had audacity, speaking out against slavery while touring in the South. He used his celebrity status as a platform for social change, and people listened. His love of debate was evident in Bleak House with its court cases and legal arguments. True to Scrop, when he killed off one of the main, and most sympathetic, characters in the serialized “Old Curiosity Shop” his readers where so shocked, so outraged, he received hundreds of death threats. But they kept reading. His popularity was unprecedented in his time. Any time!

Note, sun in the 5th, in Aquarius, he had 10 children and fought for children’s rights and education.

I think dying with his last novel, one unlike any of the others, half finished, is POF in Scorp in the 3rd’s way of singing off. or flipping us off. He grew more and more critical with age. (Saturn in the 4th?)

Read about his life with his chart in hand. It’s amazing to connect the dots.

Extra Credit

In ancient times, the Part of Fortune represented another kind of house system. Whatever sign the POF was in, that becomes 0 degrees of the Ascendant. In the chart above, the “Fortune” chart would turn the dial clockwise until 0 Scorpio was on the Ascendant. They’d use whole houses, so 0 Sagittarius would be on the 2nd house cusp, 0 Capricorn on the 3rd etc. It would be used to guide prosperity and health.

Try this, for fun, but only if you feel ready to take it further. There’s plenty to discover with the POF by house and sign, in your natal chart! Do what feels good. No stress.

Keep it simple.

Here are some key words to get your started with POF by sign and by house.

Nail that first before you head to aspect and transit land.

Part of Fortune in Aries needs to feel adventurous, questing, challenging, leading and winning.Part of Fortune in Taurus needs to feel sensual, practical in natural ways with tangible results.Part of Fortune in Gemini needs to feel intellectual, communicative, teaching and learning.Part of Fortune in Cancer needs to feel needed, nurturing, protective and comforting.Part of Fortune in Leo needs to feel special, honored, creative and flamboyant.Part of Fortune in Virgo needs to feel discerning, articulate, detailed and analyzing.Part of Fortune in Libra needs to feel fair, balanced, beautiful and harmonizing.Part of Fortune in Scorpio needs to feel intense, deeply entrenched, powerful and in control.Part of Fortune in Sagittarius needs to feel expansive, exploratory, meaningful and energized.Part of Fortune in Capricorn needs to feel ambitious, productive, achieving and recognized.Part of Fortune in Aquarius needs to feel detached, knowledgeable, humanitarian and free.Part of Fortune in Pisces needs to feel merged, understood, compassionate and connected.